With 22 overall wins, 12 of which were against SEC teams, the Lady Rebels have been placed as the No. 3 seed heading into the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament, March 6-10 in Greenville, S.C. The top four seeds get two automatic byes in the tournament, a position that is highly coveted.
The Ole Miss Women’s Basketball team has a solid chance of winning it all, especially after finishing the season on a six-game winning streak. The Rebels have played expertly leading up to the SEC Tournament, with a 29.3- points average margin of victory in their last four games.
Last year’s SEC Tournament ended earlier than the team had hoped. Entering as the No. 4 seed, the Lady Rebels received two automatic byes and faced Texas A&M in their first game, winning 77-60 to advance to the next round. Ole Miss then lost to eventual SEC tournament winner No. 1 University of South Carolina 61-51.
On Sunday, March 3, Ole Miss defeated Arkansas 87-43, the largest win over the Razorbacks in school history. With this win, the Lady Rebels improved to 12-4 in the conference, which is the first 12-win SEC season for the women’s basketball program.
Head Coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin won her 100th game in Oxford with a 75-45 victory over the University of Kentucky on Thursday, Feb. 29. She has rebuilt the program from the ground up, and she wants more recognition for her team.
“I want people to start talking about how good a team we are. I’m not just talking about on the defensive end, but I’m talking about on both ends of the floor,” McPhee-McCuin said.
After last season’s exhilarating run in March Madness — in which the Lady Rebels upset No. 1 Stanford — Coach Yo and the team now have heightened expectations, both internally and externally.
“I really want to go beyond that (last year’s Sweet Sixteen appearance),” McPhee-McCuin said. “I love the hunger. I love the expectation. We are no longer trying to prove something; we are here. Ole Miss Women’s Basketball is here, and that is how we are moving.”
Ole Miss will face the winner of game six, which will be the winner of Vanderbilt versus Missouri or Florida, depending on how their final games of the season fall. The Lady Rebels have defeated all three of these teams during the regular season.
The Lady Rebels will take the court for their tournament debut on Friday, March 8, with tip off at 6:30 p.m. CT.
